My mind has been filled with fiction over the past week. I have been in the process of finishing a piece of fiction which has absorbed me. As I "put it to bed", in the sense of putting the finishing touches on it, editing it yet once more, having spent days editing it over the past month, and sending it out to several people to read for me, I have found myself at a familiar place. I have to ask myself, "Is this it? Am I done? Is it ready to go to publication?" The temptation to keep editing is great.
I studied oil painting once with a very wise teacher. She was an artist of the old school, incorporating a good amount of philosophy of painting into a class already full of instruction in technique. I guess I'm more of an art philosophy person than an artist, because I remember her philosophical instructions more than her words about technique.
One thing she pounded into my brain: "When you are finished, you are finished. Put the brush down and walk away. The revisions you add from this point on will destroy the character of the painting." It was great advice. I find that I employ that advice even more in writing than I did in painting.
The secret was to know when you were at that point. As she so correctly taught, you know it more in your gut that you do in your brain. You stand back, look at the painting and say to yourself, "I'm done." It's not so much a rational decision as it is a gut feeling.
A second issue that raised itself when completing this piece is the distinction between my own story and pure fiction. I have come to believe that there is no such thing as pure fiction. Writing is not some abstract act that is disconnected from the writer. Rather, writing calls upon all of the personal qualities, skills, talents, and motivations which have been years in the making within the writer's person. A great word used in writing is roman a clef. It is a French word (pronounced "ro-mahn'-ah-clay") which describes a piece of fiction written around a personal experience. In many case the piece is a thinly-disguised story which is, in reality, a true story from one's own history.
As I said at the beginning of this piece, there may be no way to write fiction without it relating back to the writer's self. But that is different from a roman a clef. The fact that a writer's traits can be seen in a piece of fiction does not mean that the story is about the writer. A roman a clef is an intentional re-telling of a personal story.
I raise this because the piece I have just finished is so far from my own life, story, and childhood that I am amused by my having written it. Granted, I can see traits in the story that are familiar, and the locations chosen are places I have known personally. Apart from that, however, I feel as if I have just met a new person. I like him. And I like his story.
The bottom line: I like this book. I can't wait for it to be published .
Graphic Credit: www.outpost-daria.com/fan_fiction.html
Definition Credit: Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
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